UChi ($$) vs UPenn ($$) poll closed Forum

[Veyron]

It would be the rare individual indeed who would get NYC biglaw out of one but not the other. Chicago obviously has an edge for clerkships, academia, and Chicago biglaw. Whether that is worth 3 years of misery, that's an individual decision.

About 10-15% of the class isn't exactly a rare breed. And selective firms go a lot lower at UChicago than at Penn.

Maybe in Chicago. If NYU is only outplacing us by 10% in the City, I doubt chicago is at 10-15%. Selective firms I can't speak to, I never much cared about that. 160 is 160. That being said, I've got plenty of classmates going to V20s.

[09042014]

It would be the rare individual indeed who would get NYC biglaw out of one but not the other. Chicago obviously has an edge for clerkships, academia, and Chicago biglaw. Whether that is worth 3 years of misery, that's an individual decision.

About 10-15% of the class isn't exactly a rare breed. And selective firms go a lot lower at UChicago than at Penn.

Maybe in Chicago. If NYU is only outplacing us by 10% in the City, I doubt chicago is at 10-15%. Selective firms I can't speak to, I never much cared about that. 160 is 160. That being said, I've got plenty of classmates going to V20s.

NYC is by the easiest place to get a job in this economy. Bottom of Uchi should be bidding on NYC not Chicago.

Even before the crash they had similar number of people going to NYC vault firms. http://lawfirmaddict.blogspot.com/2006/ ... rk-ny.html And that's not even considering that UChi places nationally and Penn grads almost all flock there.

[whymeohgodno]

It would be the rare individual indeed who would get NYC biglaw out of one but not the other. Chicago obviously has an edge for clerkships, academia, and Chicago biglaw. Whether that is worth 3 years of misery, that's an individual decision.

About 10-15% of the class isn't exactly a rare breed. And selective firms go a lot lower at UChicago than at Penn.

Maybe in Chicago. If NYU is only outplacing us by 10% in the City, I doubt chicago is at 10-15%. Selective firms I can't speak to, I never much cared about that. 160 is 160. That being said, I've got plenty of classmates going to V20s.

NYC is by the easiest place to get a job in this economy. Bottom of Uchi should be bidding on NYC not Chicago.

Even before the crash they had similar number of people going to NYC vault firms. http://lawfirmaddict.blogspot.com/2006/ ... rk-ny.html And that's not even considering that UChi places nationally and Penn grads almost all flock there.

Cornell placed only 25% into NYC in 2006? Where did everyone else go for biglaw jobs. Didn't they place something like 65% in 2006 into NLJ250

[09042014]

Cornell placed only 25% into NYC in 2006? Where did everyone else go for biglaw jobs. Didn't they place something like 65% in 2006 into NLJ250

That list is v100 firms. That leaves 150 extra firms. That and the v100 data might not have city by city break downs for all firms, meaning they are all lower than they should be.

[Veyron]

It would be the rare individual indeed who would get NYC biglaw out of one but not the other. Chicago obviously has an edge for clerkships, academia, and Chicago biglaw. Whether that is worth 3 years of misery, that's an individual decision.

About 10-15% of the class isn't exactly a rare breed. And selective firms go a lot lower at UChicago than at Penn.

Maybe in Chicago. If NYU is only outplacing us by 10% in the City, I doubt chicago is at 10-15%. Selective firms I can't speak to, I never much cared about that. 160 is 160. That being said, I've got plenty of classmates going to V20s.

NYC is by the easiest place to get a job in this economy. Bottom of Uchi should be bidding on NYC not Chicago.

Even before the crash they had similar number of people going to NYC vault firms. http://lawfirmaddict.blogspot.com/2006/ ... rk-ny.html And that's not even considering that UChi places nationally and Penn grads almost all flock there.

This is a very hostile way of saying that you agree with me about NYC placement. I like your style. Also, at least in my target market, the schools are treated exactly the same for higing purposes and that makret is far from both NYC and Chicago.

[ahduth]

Also, at least in my target market, the schools are treated exactly the same for higing purposes and that makret is far from both NYC and Chicago.

Mysterious. Care to elaborate?

[Veyron]

Also, at least in my target market, the schools are treated exactly the same for higing purposes and that makret is far from both NYC and Chicago.

Mysterious. Care to elaborate?

Do I care to out myself. No. It is a secondary market. I know because partners at good firms have told me so.

[ahduth]

Also, at least in my target market, the schools are treated exactly the same for higing purposes and that makret is far from both NYC and Chicago.

Mysterious. Care to elaborate?

Do I care to out myself. No. It is a secondary market. I know because partners at good firms have told me so.

I'll guess Toronto, and he's afraid of outing himself as Canadian.

[Veyron]

Also, at least in my target market, the schools are treated exactly the same for higing purposes and that makret is far from both NYC and Chicago.

Mysterious. Care to elaborate?

Do I care to out myself. No. It is a secondary market. I know because partners at good firms have told me so.

I'll guess Toronto, and he's afraid of outing himself as Canadian.

Eh?

[gbpackerbacker]

Could the people who chose Penn (sans Veyron) explain why?

[apollo13]

Retake

lol..

[Emma.]

I'd visit both, and see which one you like the best, honestly.

The difference is the money is going to be so small when you actually pay it off month/month, that I'd listen to your heart.

Barring that, Chi is obviously where it's at....

[Georgiana]

Could the people who chose Penn (sans Veyron) explain why?

Back in the day I chose Penn over UChi (with a little more money offered from Penn than UChi). I knew clerking sounded like a drag, as did the idea of living in Chicago. I'm a coastal girl and decided I wasn't going to give that up (Mich I'm looking at you too). It was pretty much all personal preference and had nothing to do with the programs and academics. In the end I followed the money (though not really since I didn't go to UVA, but that's another story) and I don't regret

[TLSNYC]

Could the people who chose Penn (sans Veyron) explain why?

I'll try to chime in here -- I am currently an 0L and was accepted to Penn/Chicago/NYU (among others). I knocked NYU out of the running for irrelevant reasons here. So, it was basically down to Penn or Chicago.

Honestly, Chicago is, in many ways, a stronger school, but not by too much. It has better NLJ250+Art III numbers, better placement in V20 firms, and stronger reputation scores than Penn. Basically, in most numerical comparisons of the schools' placement power/reputation, Chicago has a slight edge. However, all of those advantages it has over Penn are marginal, i.e. 5% or 10% at most better. The only place where Chicago is head and shoulders better than Penn is academia.

Despite this, I ended up choosing Penn for three reasons -- I visited both and liked Penn slightly more; my SO would have been closer, though that was probably more icing on the cake than a factor; finally, I asked myself what I wanted out of my career. I am really interested in doing litigation at a big firm in NYC and then trying to nab an AUSA position in a secondary market. When I asked myself what tangible benefit would Chicago give me over Penn, it came down to really only being a slighter higher chance at getting that biglaw gig -- that's all. (I'm also interested in a fed. district court clerkship, but Penn does better in the secondary market where I want to clerk.) When I thought about it, I would rather be at a place I like slightly more than somewhere I wasn't as fond of (i.e. Chicago) just for a few percentage points.

So, I would recommend you visit both and see which one suits you better. If, however, you find all else is equal, those few % points work in Chicago's favor.

Admittedly, this entire calculus happened before I got a huge scholarship from Penn, which made it 50k cheaper over three years. At that point, it was a no-brainer. In terms of money for you, Penn would obviously only be 15k cheaper, so then you would need to weigh Chicago's marginally (and I don't use the word to brush off their edge) stronger placement/rep. against how much that 15k matters.

This is only one man's perspective and I'm sure you could disagree but I hope you found it helpful!

[gbpackerbacker]

Thanks for the responses everybody! I'll visit Penn to see what I think...